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Broadway star Renée Rapp has hired a top Hollywood attorney to get her off Mindy Kaling’s Max show ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’, sources confirm to Page Six.
The 23-year-old blonde — who is about to get top billing in Tina Fey’s big-screen version of “Mean Girls” the musical — got Bryan Freedman on the case, we’re told.
Rapp plays the openly gay student Leighton Murray and a source in the know told us: “Both sides have been working to resolve things. There are a lot of egos at play.”
Another insider insisted there were no issues —ego-driven or otherwise — between Rapp and Kaling themselves, but confirmed that Rapp announced a big music tour without getting permission from her show boss.
The tour starts in September and takes Rapp —who told the “Call Her Daddy” podcast she “hated” filming the first season, through the US to Europe, the UK and Ireland.
“Renée wanted to leave the show to tour and they’re currently working out the best creative solution for her departure, but she announced the tour without having clearance from the show,” said the insider.
“Mindy is a multi-hyphenate and is supportive of people who want to do different things and play to their talents, but she has to figure out what happens to Renée’s character. This is not the way anyone would have wanted [Rapp’s exit] to happen.”
A show source said that Rapp will not be a series regular and will likely finish her episodes early on in Season 3.
Page Six has reached out to Kaling, HBO Max and reps for Rapp.
Rapp played Queen Bee Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls” four years ago, and will reprise her role in the upcoming movie.
Back in April, she told Us Weekly her life was hectic, admitting, “I’m trying to find a work/life balance. I don’t [have one] at present, and I probably won’t for a while. But I’m trying to be an EGOT, so I’m tired — but it’s all good.”
She added that her parents had raised her to be “a very strong individual” when it comes to people who don’t treat her with respect.
“It’s no bad blood, but I’m always gonna look out for myself. So I actually don’t really talk to people that hurt my feelings.”
Rapp, who recently came out as bisexual, has made it clear that she “hated” filming the first season of “SLOCG.”
“The first year doing ‘College Girls’ was terrible. It was terrible,” she told “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper. “It sucked so bad, because at the time, I was in a heteronormative relationship. I hated going to work, because I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m like good enough to be here. I don’t think I can be here. I don’t think I can be doing this.’ I was like, ‘Maybe I’m just trying too hard.’ And then I would come home and I would psych myself out, literally.’
She added: “I was just in a panic constantly. And I wasn’t [straight], but I was so freaked out by the idea of my sexuality, not being finite or people laughing at me or me laughing at myself that I hated the first year of filming.”
The set insider told Page Six: “With the writer’s strike inevitably delaying the next season of ‘SLOCG,’ Renée felt like it was a good moment to explore her options for leaving the show.”
Kaling, who currently has another hit on her hands with the huge success of Netflix teen show “Never Have I Ever,” doesn’t want Rapp to leave, according to sources as it will break up the core four characters, played by Pauline Chalamet (actor Timothée’s sister), Amrit Kaur and Alyah Chanelle Scott, alongside Rapp.
We’re told that Rapp has said she’s willing to film scenes to make her exit seamless as opposed to just vanish, but Kaling wants her to stay.
Kaling posted to Instagram on Monday: “We love Reneerapp so much and of course will be so sad to say goodbye Leighton Murray! But we can’t wait to see our friend on tour!!”
One source told Page Six: “It’s all love. Mindy and everyone are letting Renee work on her first passion, which is music.”
Rapp’s powerhouse lawyer, Freedman, represented Megyn Kelly in her exit from NBC, as well as ensured that Gabrielle Union got a multi-million dollar settlement from NBC after alleging she was subjected to racism on “America’s Got Talent.” He has also worked with Don Lemon following the anchor’s recent ousting from CNN.
